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Stephen Strasburg

Odds And Ends: Cubs, Royals, Morgan

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More links for the afternoon…

  • MLB president Bob DuPuy confirmed to MLB.com's Barry Bloom that the Cubs should soon be sold to Tom Ricketts for about $900MM.
  • Royals third-rounder Wil Myers told Matt Forman of Baseball America that it felt a little weird to face live pitching after a few months off. He still managed to hit a homer in his ffith pro at bat.
  • You don't hear many Cardinals fans complaining about Matt Holliday, but how about Brett Wallace, the centerpiece of the trade that sent Holliday to St. Louis? As Baseball America shows with its latest Prospect Hot Sheet, Wallace homered five times this week.
  • Chico Harlan of the Washington Post compares Nyjer Morgan to a number of leadoff hitters throughout history and shows that Morgan looks like a nice acquisition.
  • The Nats introduced Stephen Strasburg to the fans at Nationals Park this afternoon, according to Bill Ladson of MLB.com.

Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Strasburg, Cordero, Swisher

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On this date 25 years ago, B.J. Upton was born. The second overall pick in the '02 draft, Bossman Junior made his big league debut in 2004, but will be arbitration-eligible for the first time following this season. The Rays prefer to lock up their young players to long-term deals, but there has never been an indication that Upton is willing to sign long-term. With the signing deadline for most draft picks now past, let's take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…

  • The Biz of Baseball looks at how the slotting system held up with this year's draft (not very well).
  • Capitol Avenue Club declares the winners and losers of this year's draft.
  • Nationals Pride notes that the Nationals are two-for-two in their decisions affecting Stephen Strasburg.
  • Center Field Gate likes the Stephen Strasburg deal, but wants to see what Strasburg can do before getting too excited.
  • Sully Baseball notes that Stephen Strasburg needs to get past Betty White before he is worth $50M.
  • Around the Majors looks back the Reds' decision to give Francisco Cordero a $46MM contract.
  • 6 Pound 8 Ounce Baby Joba revisits the deal that brought Nick Swisher to the Yankees.

Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here, and followed on Twitter here.

Odds & Ends: Rizzo, A’s, Draft, Williams

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Some tidbits from around the league on Thursday evening…

  • ESPN's Peter Gammons outlines the methods Nationals GM Mike Rizzo used to land Stephen Strasburg. He also discusses the long road Rizzo has ahead of him. 
  • MLB.com's Mychael Urban writes that the Athletics are enjoying success despite trading Matt Holliday and Orlando Cabrera.
  • Dave Cameron at Fangraphs argues that the draft should be "abolished" and offers a creative suggestion for how to replace it.
  • MLB.com's Scott Merkin talks to White Sox GM Kenny Williams, who is happy with the team he has constructed. In fact, Williams says that he "would love to bring back this whole darn team." 

Stark On Wagner, Padres, Crawford

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ESPN.com's Jayson Stark shows that a number of contenders have vulnerable-looking closers. The Cubs and Phillies two of many teams with shaky arms at the back of the 'pen. Here are the details and the rest of Stark's rumors:

  • At least one scout believes John Smoltz would have been the perfect arm for the Marlins to add to their 'pen.
  • However, clubs pursuing Smoltz heard that he wanted to start, at least for now.    
  • A scout who watched Billy Wagner throw has "no doubt" that Wagner could help a team win. The Rays and Marlins are thought to have interest in Wagner, but neither team would be likely to give up much of a prospect unless the Mets picked up salary.  
  • Stark hears that the Padres pulled Heath Bell and Adrian Gonzalez back off waivers after multiple teams claimed them.
  • Mark Hendrickson cleared waivers, and can now be traded to any team. The Rockies were interested before the deadline, but they may decide to see where the Billy Wagner bidding goes before pursuing Hendrickson again.
  • One rival GM considers the Cards "the best team in the league right now."  
  • The Royals don't seem interested in trading their top pitchers. They pulled Brian Bannister back from waivers and though Joakim Soria and Gil Meche are on waivers now, they aren't likely to be dealt.
  • Clubs eyeing Carl Crawford believe the Rays are becoming less likely to deal him. Desmond Jennings could become the Rays' left fielder, but they'd probably have to be overwhelmed to part with Crawford.
  • It's possible that Jamie Moyer could draw interest as a trade candidate after the season. 
  • One AL exec isn't sure Bryce Harper's the guarantee people perceive him to be.  
  • Stark points out that the Astros traded Ivan Rodriguez just as his incentives were about to start kicking in.
  • An official of a team that inquired about Stephen Strasburg before the draft says that Scott Boras invoked Daisuke Matsuzaka's name without specifically saying he wanted $50MM for his client.

Odds And Ends: Padilla, Strasburg, Gomes

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Another round of links…

  • Ted Green of the LA Times says Vicente Padilla will be an "angel" with the Dodgers because he has no other choice.  
  • As Monday night's deadline to sign picks neared, we had no idea whether Stephen Strasburg would sign. Neither did Chico Harlan of the Washington Post, so he wrote this story in case the Nats failed to sign him.
  • We've heard lots of talk about Bronson Arroyo and Aaron Harang, but John Fay of the Cincinnati Enquirer wonders if the Reds could deal Jonny Gomes, who has 15 homers, to a contender.
  • Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball shows how much teams spent on draft picks Monday and argues that the recommended slotting system isn't working as intended.

Boras On The Strasburg Negotiations

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Scott Boras told 619 Sports that he was never looking to sign Stephen Strasburg to a  $50MM deal, despite reports that he was using Daisuke Matsuzaka's contract as a reference point for the number one overall pick.

"I can assure you our first offer was well less than half of that," Boras said.

Here are some more points Boras makes over the course of the interview:

  • Boras says revenues around baseball have increased in the last decade, so he argues that money should trickle down to players and draft picks.
  • He also suggests that more teams are holding onto their players, which leads to smaller crops of free agents.
  • Boras says American players deserve as much as international ones.
  • Boras says J.D. Drew didn't sign with the Phillies because they told him they didn't believe him.
  • The agent praises Donavan Tate and Strasburg on their intelligence.
  • Boras says every organization makes mistakes with players, but suggests adding players with questionable character hurts teams most of all.
  • Check out the audio for Boras' description of deadline day. It's pretty interesting stuff.

Selig Wants Worldwide Draft, Capped Bonuses

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Commissioner Bud Selig wants MLB to adopt  a worldwide draft and more rigid bonuses for picks when the current collective bargaining agreement expires after 2011, according to Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post. Selig said the Nats and Stephen Strasburg agreed on a "fair" deal, but wants to cap the bonuses draftees receive. 

"There's no question in my mind, in 2011, certainly a slotting system and a worldwide draft are things we will be very aggressive talking about," Selig said.

Sheinin says a number of players are comfortable with the idea of capping bonuses for draftees, so there's potential for change when MLB negotiates the next CBA with the players' union.

Odds And Ends: Tejada, Varitek, Smoltz

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Some afternoon links…

Heyman On Strasburg, Harper, Piniella

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Jon Heyman of SI.com says the Nationals made the "acquisition of the year" when they signed Stephen Strasburg 77 seconds before Monday night's deadline to sign draft picks. Nats president Stan Kasten says he's proud to have signed Strasburg even if he's not proud to have agreed to a record-setting deal. Like many others, Scott Boras believes the agreement was good for both sides. Here are the rest of Heyman's rumors:

  • Bryce Harper shouldn't come close to Strasburg's $15MM-plus if he signs next year.
  • The Rays offered first rounder LeVon Washington $1.1MM. It wasn't enough and Scott Boras was very disappointed not to reach a deal.
  • Heyman says there's no way the Cubs fire Lou Piniella after picking up his $4MM option for next year.
  • Jerry Manuel shouldn't have picked on Ryan Church, Heyman says.

Discussion: Is The Draft Broken?

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Jayson Stark at ESPN argues that the draft "will never be the same" in the wake of the Stephen Strasburg signing. He quotes club officials who tell him that the draft is "broken" and that the system "needs to be blown up."

Among potential changes that should be discussed, Stark lists a formal slotting system, the ability to trade draft picks, a worldwide draft, and a hockey-style system wherein draft picks would be controlled through their college years.

What do you think? Are bonuses for top picks out of control? Should teams be able to trade picks? Should the way international players are signed change? Is everything just fine the way it is? Let's figure it all out in the comments section.

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